MOUNTAIN ASH. 163 



Where they hop, and leap, and frisk, and spring, 



And mark the grass with a fairy-ring. 



Now let all gentlemen warning take, 



For this poor little wood-sprite's mournful sake, 



And when any new paths are marked and planned, 



And the woodman comes with his axe in hand, 



To cut down some hawthorn that long has stood 



And drive its fairy out of the wood, 



Let him have strict orders to plant anew, 



A young tree near where the old tree grew, 



To shelter the sprite from day to day, 



That she may not by storms be blown away." 



Norton. 



MOUNTAIN ASH. 



" How clung the rowan to the rock, 

 And through the foliage showed his head, 

 With narrow leaves and berries red." 



Thus sang the poet when alluding to the rocky habitat 

 of yonder mountain ash, the quicken or roan-tree, 

 Pyrus aucuparia ; but though affecting boggy and moun- 

 tainous situations in Wales, Scotland, and the north of 



